Don't Ever Let It End
by x-beth-bubble-x
Summary: Isabella and Edward have been friends for years, but they've fallen for each other. Will it work out, or be a disaster?
1. Chapter 1

**A/N: inspired by Nickelback's song "Don't Ever Let It End" and loosely – very loosely based on something that happened to me recently. **

Edward's POV

_Tanya's hand was firm in mine, and she was cuddled into my side, pressing her glass into my chest. I hated it when she was possessive like this. I moved away from Tanya, and slipped into the kitchen. My sister, Alice, was putting out more bottles of beer, and wine. She turned to me and smiled. _

"_I think new years' going to be welcomed warmly," she chuckled. I shook my head at her, my sister was definitely mental, but it's what made Alice, Alice. I took a bottle of beer off the side, and unscrewed the cap. _

"_So you managed to get away from Tanya?" a familiar, heart warmly, elegant voice laughed from behind me, Alice gave me an all-knowing glance, but I flipped her off before turning around. _

"_Not for long," I groaned, she smiled, making my heart ache. Isabella sawn had been in my life since kindergarten. We'd always been friends; she'd spilled her heart out to me about all her ex-boyfriends, and she'd been there when I needed her. Tanya, in her tight, second-hand, plunging neckline dress shuffled into the kitchen, nearly on the verge of being paralytic. _

"_Isabella," Tanya glared, almost spilling her drink down herself. Bella gave Tanya a dirty look and walked away. _

"_I hate that stupid, fucking slut!" Tanya said, loud and slurred. I grabbed Tanya's upper arm and dragged her outside. Tanya tried fighting against me, but I had a firm enough grip on her to overpower her. _

"_Edward, get the fuck off me!" Tanya shouted. When we were far enough away from the house, I let her go; she stumbled, and then collapsed onto the grass. _

"_Do you love me?" she bawled, on her knees, in front of me. I just looked at the state of her. What was I doing? Suddenly, I noticed jasper, my brother in law, approaching is. I turned around and walking towards him. _

"_Take her home." I growled, angry and slightly intoxicated. Jasper didn't even have to ask why, but looked at me in that way that said 'this has gone on for too long,". I walked back to the house, and found Bella dancing with Alice in the living room, singing very loudly. I looked at the clock, it was half an hour to 2012, and all the lights were on in the house, so I decided to find the dimmer switch for the living room. I dimmed the lights and weaved my way through all the women dancing until I reached Alice and Bella. _

"_Where's Tanya?" Alice asked, as Bella took a massive swig of her vodka and orange juice. She was barely stood up, alcohol raging through her blood stream. _

"_She's going home; I asked jasper to make sure she gets home okay." I explained, while holding up Bella, as she stumbled into me. Alice nodded and went back to jumping around, and singing to the loud. Bella could barely stand up after she downed her drink. _

"_I love you." Bella blurted, holding onto my shirt, cuddling into me. I was taken back slightly; she was drunk, like really drunk. She didn't know what she was saying._

"_Bella, you need to sober up." I whispered, searching desperately for Alice, who'd miraculously disappeared. She knew how to hide when I needed her to save me from a dangerously awkward situation. _

"_Edward, I fucking love you!" Bella shouted, over the music. I swallowed hard, I wanted to tell her how I felt but I couldn't. I was with Tanya. Bella was my friend, even though I loved her too. I backed away from her, and disappeared out of the house, without saying goodbye to my sister before I left. I walked back to my apartment. I ended up falling asleep on my couch, still in the clothes from the party. I woke up with a terrible hangover, my head pounded, and it didn't help when my phone exploded right in my earhole. _

"_Ah….fuck!" I groaned, holding my head. I reached for my phone, and without looking at the caller ID, I answered the call. _

"_Why did you come home?" Tanya whimpered, I could tell she was hung over by the tone of her voice. _

"_We have our own apartments, I don't live with you, and you don't live with me." I heard Tanya gasp, I was acting cold towards her because she didn't deserve my affection. _

"_Will I see you later?" she asked, sounding desperate, and needy. I cut off the call. I couldn't deal with her today. She was an embarrassment. I threw my phone onto the floor, and nurse my headache. I tried not to think too much, but every time I relaxed, letting my mind go, the memory of Bella telling she loves me would flood my vulnerable mind. I groaned, I'd basically rejected her. The one thing I didn't want to do to her. The click came from the apartment door, making me sit up slowly, and glaring suspiciously at the door. _

"_Yeah, I'm about to…Bella! Calm down!" it was Alice, she was on the phone, and she had two cups of coffee in her free hand. I lay back down, holding my head. She slapped my legs making me move._

"_She's a hung over, babbling mess." Alice told me, passing me a coffee. I took a long swig before I realised she wanted me to respond._

"_She told you then?" I held the cup between my hands, looking down. Alice places a hand on my shoulder, and I almost jumped across the room. _

"_I rejected her." I whispered, shaking, feeling sick. Alice squeezed my shoulder, comforting me. Alice never said too many words._

"_You're with Tanya, you're loyal to her. You didn't do anything wrong." Alice reassured me; I turned to look at her, my eyes full of tears. Didn't she understand? Or was she ignoring how I felt to spare Tanya the humiliation? Sometimes I didn't understand Alice; she hated Tanya, and the way she acted like she was superior to us all._

"_I love her Alice. " I couldn't control my tears. I never cried, I was too strong for tear. But here I was an emotional wreck over a girl who'd been my friend since kindergarten. _

"_Tell her then!" _


	2. Chapter 2

**A/N: thank you for the reviews. **

Bella's POV

_my head pounded as I lay in bed, I drank far too much last night and I'd definitely made a fool of myself in front of Edward, like a person like him would love me, he had Tanya, she was beautiful, smart, funny, attractive, she was everything I wasn't. Why would he love me? _

_I climbed out of bed and rushed to the bathroom. I threw up in the sink, it burnt my throat, and my stomach ached. Alice had tried to reassure me, but I was still confused about my feelings. I love him, but I knew he didn't feel the same. I ran a shower, and I tried to feel less shitty, but nothing was going to get rid of my embarrassment. I felt a lot better after my shower. The phone was blaring as I entered my bedroom; I dived across my bed, and answered it. _

"_Hey Alice," I sighed, drying my hair while I sat in bed. _

"_Esme's invited you for dinner, and you know Esme." Alice said softly, which meant I had to go, no arguments, no fussing. _

"_Okay, what should I wear?" my head was pounding again, but I managed to ignore it. _

_Alice mumbled something to someone about colour and formality. _

"_That short royal blue dress you own, black tights, either your matching blue heels, or your black heels, wear your hair up." Alice said and then cut the call off again. I groaned, and put my phone on the bed. I dug through my bedside table and found my aspirin tablets. I took two, and made a start on my hair. I pinned my hair up into a messy bun and found my royal blue dress that was stuffed into the back of my closet. I hung it up on the back of the closet door to let any creases drop out. I decided on a plain set of dark blue underwear, so that my underwear didn't show through my dress. I looked at the clock, it was half past two. When Alice told me I was invited for dinner, I knew automatically that a car would be waiting for me at quarter to five. So I sat in front of TV, and watched a film. I ended up falling asleep, sat up; luckily I woke up with only ten minutes to spare to get ready. It was a frantic rush, and I skipped downstairs just as the car pulled up outside. On the way to esme's, I re-adjusted my hair and made sure I looked presentable. It was a twenty minute drive to Esme's home. When I arrived, it was jasper, Edward's brother in law and Alice's husband, who walked me up to the house from the bottom of the driveway. Entering the house, I was greeted by a warming hug from Esme. _

"_You look…rough." Esme was always blunt she didn't mean to be, it was just in her nature. _

"_Well, you look amazing," I complimented her appearance. She smiled and escorted me to the dining room. Everyone was wearing a shade of blue, nothing too bright, but it looked like we were all family, that we all belonged here. I saw Edward standing, talking to his older brother, Emmett and his wife, Rosalie, with his arm loosely around Tanya's skinny waist. I felt so inferior to her; she outshined anyone in the room. _

"_You can be seated," Carlisle told everyone. _

_Carlisle was their father. Esme had only been married to Carlisle for twenty years; they met four years after their mother died giving birth to Alice. _

_Everyone sat down, and I realised the only empty seat was next to Edward, I sat beside him awkwardly. _

"_Hi," he whispered as I sat down. _

"_Hey," I whispered, taking his hand and Esme's hand as Carlisle said grace. Edward's grip on my hand was loose, but he was drawing circles on my palm with his thumb. _

"_Amen." We all said in unison, before raising our heads._

_Edward didn't let go of my hand, he just pulled it under the table, placing it on his leg. This was awkward. What was he doing? Tanya was sat right next to him. I managed to pull my hand away as the bowl of soup was set in front of me. I looked in the bowl, it was definitely tomato soup. _

"_So, how was new year's eve?" Esme directed her question at Alice, as we all indulged in the thick soup. Alice looked a t Esme, just to make sure she was talking to her. _

"_It was eventful," Alice's eyes darting in mine and Edward's direction, Esme picked up on Alice's glance and looked at us, raising eyebrows. Suddenly, Tanya rose from the table, almost knocking the chair across the room. She glared at me, and stormed out the dining room. _

"_May I be excused?" Edward asked, Esme nodded with a sign, and he chased after Tanya. I blushed in embarrassment; Esme excused us all from the table, she didn't want anyone missing any course of her well prepared dinner. We all congregated in the lounge, Carlisle brought out a bottle of wine. As I began a conversation with Emmett and Rosalie, Edward grabbed me by the elbow, pulling me out the room, he looked angry and upset. _

"_What's wrong?" I asked him as he slouched against the wall, "where's Tanya?" _

_He looked at me, giving me a strange look. _

"_I've left her." He said simply, adjusting his tie. He exhaled. _

"_You did what?" my heart was pounding in my chest, why had he left her? Those two were supposed to be together forever, and make my life a living hell. _

"_I don't love her, Isabella!" he exclaimed, I flinched, he never called me by my proper name unless he was really angry, he pushed himself away from the way, and he walked upstairs. _

"_Edward, I'd love to know what was going on, but Esme has prepared dinner for us, come back downstairs!" I called after him, like a sulking child, he did as he was told. I didn't wait for him, but I returned to the lounge. _

"_Tanya has had to go home, unfortunately, she apologises." I lied to Esme, convincingly, she just nodded, and ushered us back into the dining room. The rest of dinner was silent and awkward. I decided to skip desert, my stomach couldn't take any more food. Esme gave me her permission to roam around her house, which I really didn't need; I'd been a guest at her house for over fifteen years. I went to my favourite room in the whole house, and removed my shoes. I ran my fingers over the spines of each individual book until I found my favourite. I pulled the book from the shelf and curled up in the corner of the too, my feet tucked under my legs as I read the all too familiar prose that was Wuthering Heights. I became so indulged in the book that I didn't notice that Edward had crept in, until he's sat beside me, pulling his knees into his chest , it was like being in high school again. _

"_You're reading _that_ book again?" he whispered, acting shy. He rested his head on my shoulder. _

"_Yep,"I cuddled into him; I didn't really see this as an issue, "have you calmed down?" Edward exhaled, moving away from me a little bit. He was extremely tense. _

"_You won't understand." He mumbled, chewing on his lip, pulling on his shirt sleeves. I slapped the book shut, and placed it on the floor, by my feet. I turned to look at him. _

"_We've been friends for over two decades, I understand everything about you. Tell me, please." I begged him, pressing my palms against his chest. He looked at me, one eyebrow raised. _

"_I don't love Tanya." He edged forward, closer to me; he was looking at my mouth. _

"_You've told me that. I whispered, keeping my palms against his chest, his eyes were full of….desire? _

"_I don't want her, I want someone else, it's actually more than want, it's need." He pushed against my hands, I quickly understood. _

"_You rejected me." I got to my feet, and put the book back in the bookshelf. As I was about to leave, Edward grabbed and pulled me around._

"_I didn't mean to, I couldn't believe that you love me, like I love you." His voice was low, almost inaudible…_


End file.
